Introducing: WordAds on Z’s Cup of Tea

If you visit Z’s Cup of Tea on a computer, you’ll have noticed ads appearing above the header and in the sidebar, above all my other content. Previously I have stated that ads placed on Z’s Cup of Tea were from WordPress.com and that I did not receive any compensation for these ads. They did not reflect my personal views or what I blog about.

In November of last year, the WordPress.com team announced on their blog a new venture with their own advertising program called WordAds. In partnership with Federated Media, this offered WordPress.com bloggers a chance to make some monetary gain from their blogging, which was previously unavailable as WordPress.com doesn’t allow advertising otherwise (including Google’s AdSense).

I signed up for the program at that time and in April, last month, I received an email asking about my interest expressed in the program. Another email later, I had instructions for activating WordAds. Since then, I’ve had some back and forth emails about the ads themselves and their content as well as some other areas of the WordAds Terms of Usage, all in making sure that I was clear in my understanding.

This decision wasn’t made lightly. I am currently a student and I hope to make enough from these ads to continue my studies as well as buying ingredients for new recipes I’ve been waiting to try. It would also help me pay for domain hosting for Z’s Cup of Tea and any upgrades, which are purchased and renewed every year, in the future that I might want to add to make Z’s Cup of Tea a better experience.

In signing up with WordPress.com’s WordAds program, I now receive monetary gain from ads displayed on Z’s Cup of Tea. I have no control over the ads or their content, though I’ve been told that ads are different for US and international visitors.

Update 6/27/12: If you see an ad that you don’t agree with, please take a screenshot of the offending ad (here’s how to take a screenshot) and email it to me at contact@zscupoftea.com and I will get in touch with the WordAds team.

Consequently, these ads do not reflect upon my personal views or interests or what I blog about here at Z’s Cup of Tea. They also have no influence on what I shall continue to blog about. So if you see an ad for a cheesy, gluten-filled pizza or a cupcake, for example – and I’ve already seen them – that does not reflect upon what I share here. The same goes for any fad diet related ads (here I am NOT referring to gluten-free or any other diet followed for health and/or medical reasons). At this time, it’s difficult for the WordAds program to match niche market ads to any individual blogger’s blog content.

If you’re on a mobile device, you may not see the ads. I can’t see them on my iPod touch or iPad, the latter thanks to the special iPad layout. You can see them if you are surfing in a browser on a computer, however.

I have already addressed this change on my FAQ page, so a post announcing compensated advertisements should be brief but I wanted to acknowledge this change and let you, my readers, know this and be aware.